Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Five Totally Not Random Cubs Cards

Instead of letting the random number generator pick five cards for me, I did the selecting myself. I've got four real Cubs cards and one homemade card (because I couldn't find any of the last guy as a Cub).

All five players have a connection to one another. Try to guess what it is.

Donruss 1986 #510 Steve Engel Raise you hand if you've heard of this guy.... I don't see any hands up. In 1985 the entire Cubs starting rotation was on the disabled list at the same time. Guys like Steve Engel got a chance to show their stuff. It wasn't pretty. He pitched in 11 games, eight as a starter. His record was 1-5 with an ERA of 5.57.

Fleer 1981 #300 Jim Tracy. Fleer arranged the cards in their sets first by team, then by players last name. That is why Tracy got card #300, a number that Topps would have given only to superstars. Tracy's very mediocre career wouldn't have ever gotten him a card ending in a 5, let alone a 00.

Victory 2001 #331 Rick Aguilera He made the Victory 2001 set, but had no victories in 2001. After finishing the 2000 season with a record of 1-2 and and ERA of 4.91 the Cubs passed on him when he became a free agent. So did every other MLB team.

Shakey's Pizza 1976 #36 King Kelly How about that...a Hall of Famer! The card shows him wearing a Boston uniform, but the best years of his career were with the Cubs (actually it was the White Stockings then). Slide, Kelly, Slide!

Fake 1949ish Bowman Loyd Christopher No, this is not Rev. Jim from Taxi or Doc from Back to the Future...that's Christopher Lloyd. This is Loyd Christopher, an outfielder that played on the pennant winning Cubs of 1945. Well, kinda....he made it into one game, on May 30. He played in the 8th and 9th inning and didn't get a plate appearance.

And what is the connection between these four lousy Cubs and one Hall of Famer?

About Me

I am a life-long Cubs fan currently in exile in southern Michigan. I have been collecting baseball cards since the fateful Cubs year of 1969. I took a 15 year break from the hobby and returned in 2008.